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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26477425">A Long-Awaited Reunion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee'>jacquelee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Legends of Atlantis [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Stargate Atlantis Fusion, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:54:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,658</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26477425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Atlantis expedition returns to Earth. After having done everything she could to find her sister when she got her message six months ago, Laurel isn't sure what to feel exactly when confronted with the immediate prospect of seeing Sara again for the first time in over thirteen years.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charlie &amp; Sara Lance, Laurel Lance &amp; Felicity Smoak, Laurel Lance &amp; Sara Lance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Legends of Atlantis [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883923</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Iddy Iddy Bang Bang! 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Long-Awaited Reunion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for <a href="https://iddyiddybangbang.dreamwidth.org">Iddy Iddy Bang Bang</a>.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Walking through the door of the non-descript looking office building, as she did every day, Laurel threw a greeting towards Gary, who was sitting at the front desk as usual, grinning at her widely, maybe a little wider than usual, though it was hard to tell, seeing that he always seemed to be excited about something. But this time it was apparently something special because he waved her over instead of just letting her go in, starting to move towards her away from his desk and talking before she even got to him.</p><p>"Laurel, hey, have you heard the news? Isn't it great?"</p><p>Now standing in front of him a little away from the desk, Laurel frowned. She hadn't heard any news so far, but then, she assumed Felicity was going to tell her anything important at lunch, as she always did. Not that there had been any important news for the last five months she had been coming here every day, but there had been small things, mostly her talking more about Sara's past with the Legends and her co-workers. </p><p>There hadn't been any word from Sara herself, not since she had gotten that message, not since she had started digging into this entire operation that she now was as intimately familiar with as was possible for an outsider. An offshoot of the Bureau for Magic and the Supernatural, also called simply the Magic Bureau or the Bureau, the Legends were an organization that had been brought to life many years ago, but nobody really knew what exactly they were doing or even who they were.</p><p>Not taking no for an answer, Laurel had spent basically all of her free time since she had gotten that message digging into this organization and finding out everything about it and even she still didn't know all that much, other than that it had to do with magical creatures and metas and took a different approach than the Magic Bureau instead of policing them trying to work with them and integrate them into society. </p><p>She still didn't know in detail how Sara had become entangled with them, just that she had and that she was now on some super secret mission for them for almost a year already, a mission that meant there was no contact at all, for anybody. At first, right after getting the message, she hadn't believed that, going so far as involving the FBI in a missing person's case to find out what happened to her sister and when they had told her that Sara herself had agreed to this and that it was company policy for the employee themselves to decide whether their relatives got told the truth or not (something Laurel was shown in form of a contract that Sara had signed) they considered the case closed, but she couldn't. </p><p>She spent days practically living in their headquarters in Washington DC, trying to find someone, anyone, willing to give her any information as to where her sister was at the moment and how she could contact her, even when the FBI told her to let it go. She had been willing to sign any non-disclosure agreement necessary, but in the end, she of course respected that it was Sara's right to decide whether she got to know or not. </p><p>It was ironic, really, the moment she finally had heard from her sister again after thirteen years was the moment she seemed to have vanished from the face of the Earth without Laurel being able to even get an explanation. For all those years, Laurel had tried to find her and always managed to find some traces, some place she had worked at but just moved on from. It had always been too late to actually get in contact with her.</p><p>Since it was Sara's choice to leave and to stay away, Laurel had always stopped short from taking even more drastic measures, like using her ADA resources to find her, hiring a private investigator or asking her friends in higher places for help. Doing so would have broken Sara's right to privacy and Laurel didn't want to do that, even when she missed her sister horribly and the guilt ate away at her every day. Instead she conceded that at least she knew Sara was alive and just didn't want to contact her, which had to be enough.</p><p>Until that day. Until she had gotten that envelope in the mail, with the important governmental letterhead, stamped as having been reviewed by the Bureau for Magic and the Supernatural. Until she had heard her sister's voice, seen her face for the first time since that horrible fight, since she had told her that if she had wanted to be with Oliver so badly, it would have been better if she had just gone with him.</p><p>She hadn't meant it, of course she hadn't, she was grieving Oliver and was trying to reconcile for herself that his memory would always be tainted by Sara's near betrayal. She understood now that she had been young and dramatic and she regretted every day since that she had driven her sister out of the house and into god knows which situations.</p><p>Into the military, for one, that much she had found out years after the fact. She had seen one picture of Sara in a group shot of her company, or maybe she just deluded herself, wanting to believe that it was her. Either way, it had been the only thing she had of her sister for years, so she had carried that photo in her wallet for a long time. </p><p>But now she had an actual picture of her, having printed out a still of her smiling at the end of the video and carrying it around with her ever since. Or rather, carrying around the second print out of it, since the first one had gotten creased and worn from her holding it so much. It was one of her most precious possessions, as was that video itself. </p><p>It was short, only two minutes and one second long. Or more precisely, 00:02:01:65, as the time stamp on the video said. A number that was seared into Laurel's brain and that she would never forget. She knew exactly what it said, word for word, she had watched it so many times, she could hear it in her head, with all the pauses and inflections. She remembered the first time she watched it, how she had been curious who had sent her this completely generic usb drive in that important envelope and what was on it, thinking it was probably related to one of her cases.</p><p>How she had to turn off the video again the moment she saw that it was Sara, because she was so shocked that she hadn't been able to process anything. And then how, after she had calmed down a little, she had watched it all the way through, even when tears clouded her vision immediately. Sara looked so different in the video, so grown up. It was a far cry from the college girl she remembered but it was still her, it was still her little sister.</p><p>Even her voice sounded different and yet, still the same. She had smiled into the camera, looking happy, not the same as she had the last time Laurel remembered her smiling, more content than exuberant but it was still Sara's smile. Laurel felt like she hadn't even realized how much she had missed that smile in all these years until that very moment.</p><p>And then there was what she said. The words that Laurel would repeat to herself several times a day for months now. The only words she had heard from her sister in thirteen years.</p><p><i>"Hey Laurel. It's me. Obviously. Or maybe not, I mean, I've changed. I'm sure you have too. Umm, I'm calling because, I'm here doing something, something important, with these people who, who have become really important to me, and, I don't know, for the first time in my life, I feel like I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. I'm not blaming you for what you said, or for how my life turned out, that's not what this is about. But I just… I… I wanted you to know that I love you. And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I did, for how I left, that I never came back."</i> </p><p>At this point, Sara paused to wipe at her eyes that looked suspiciously moist, even through the camera. That first time she watched it, Laurel hadn't even slightly tried to control her sobbing and even just thinking about it still made her tear up every single time, which was often a little inconvenient, especially when she thought about it in court or in her office, something that had happened far too many times in the last few months.</p><p><i>"Umm, yeah, I hope you're good. Maybe, if… when I come home again, maybe we can meet up? Only if you want to, of course, you don't have to do anything. But I would like to see you. Yeah. That's… That's it I guess. Oh, no, wait, this is the only message I can record, so, can you say hello to mom and dad for me? Just, tell them I'm fine and I love them and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. Right. Okay. Ummm. Bye."</i>    </p><p>The camera shut off after that. Laurel had taken a long time to calm down enough to watch it again and then again. And then, after an even longer time, she started thinking about what this meant. Why Sara would record such a message. And that was when a cold shiver ran down her spine, because she realized that this looked exactly like a message a soldier would record to be delivered to their family after they died. </p><p>She watched it all again, not wanting that to be real, and she meticulously noted all the little hints that it wasn't. Sara was talking about a thing she was doing, a mission, but nothing that seemed life threatening. Of course, she first used 'if' instead of 'when' when she talked about coming back, but that didn't prove anything, did it? She clearly did want to come back, otherwise she wouldn't talk about meeting up.</p><p>Laurel still remembered that she took to the internet after that, searching everything she could about the Bureau for Magic and the Supernatural and Legends, the company that listed Sara as one of their employees, something she only found out after searching specifically for tax filings and even then, she had to use all of her contacts and skills to even find that out and it only worked because she already knew that Sara worked there. </p><p>That alone had taken her days to find out and after that, she had started looking more into Legends itself, finding their headquarters and starting her quest to get answers. It had taken weeks to get more than just a generic answer and she was well aware that it was only because Felicity had taken pity on her and had come to the headquarters to talk to her. She still couldn't answer all of Laurel's questions, but at least she talked to her instead of brushing her off. </p><p>It was clear that she knew Sara, albeit not very well, and was willing to part with some information about her that the company deemed unimportant but that meant the world to Laurel. Like that Felicity had heard from other sources that when Sara had still been in the military she was known for always coming up with some snazzy one liners when sending people out on missions. Or that she spent a lot of her days working out wherever she was - that one had been first hand experience, since Felicity had worked with Sara for two weeks and recalled more than one occasion of seeing her on the salmon ladder. Or that she was a really good team leader, whose unorthodox way of doing things had earned her a few reprimands but also a lot of respect for getting things done. </p><p>In a way, her sister was a stranger to her, but hearing all of those stories felt like she was close to her again, closer than she had been in years, even when she was so far away that she couldn't even contact anyone in any way.</p><p>Felicity had always been vague about that detail, just saying that it was company policy. Laurel had her own theories, like Sara and her team being on an important undercover mission somewhere halfway across the world. Or them being in some kind of secret bunker where they didn't have any internet or other access to the outside world.</p><p>Whichever it was, all of the families of the members of Sara's team she had managed to track down via employee records also didn't know anything, or were bound by confidentiality agreements, like Felicity and Behrad, the brother of Zari, one of Sara's coworkers and, according to him, budding close friends when they had last seen each other. </p><p>Behrad had been one of the first family members that had been willing to talk to her and they had struck up a fast, even if unlikely friendship. He was a philosophy student and knew more about edibles than most of Laurel's clients in the legal aid office she volunteered at when she had time. But his humor and relaxed attitude somehow had balanced out Laurel's a little uptight personality.</p><p>He knew Sara in person too, even if he had only met her twice, once at Zari's farewell party right before their team had left and once at a game night before that, to which Zari had invited him. And he had been told a lot of stories about her, since she had been talked about a lot on those two occasions and when Zari called him up a few times other than that, being the new girl and all, stories that he was eager to tell and that Laurel was all too eager to hear, even when she suspected that he generally embellished them quite a bit.</p><p>The one thing he didn't talk about was what it was Zari and Sara and their team were doing, but Laurel understood. As a lawyer, she obviously knew the importance of non-disclosure agreements and the last thing she wanted was to get her new friends in trouble. So she didn't ask them anything that could pertain to confidential things but nevertheless, they started spending quite some time together.</p><p>And she met other family members of Sara's colleagues too, like Clarissa Stein, whose daughter Lily was with Sara and whose husband Martin also worked for Legends but had stayed at home for this mission. And Kara Danvers, who had been trying since their first meeting to make up for the awkwardness of her greeting having been "so your sister shagged my sister, huh?" (an incident that apparently had happened at the aforementioned farewell party) the thought of which still made Laurel laugh, even after months.</p><p>In a way, they all had become a little community for each other, talking, texting and even having meetings every now and then when Laurel was in Washington, which was quite often now, where they would talk about their absent relatives. They had become friends. Of course, that included Felicity, with whom Laurel spent nearly every lunch break, not just still making a point at visiting Star City's branch of Legends every day but also enjoying spending time with her friend.</p><p>That was what Laurel was here for now, waiting for Felicity to come down as always, but clearly something was up, since Gary was still grinning at her. Knowing that Gary was easily excitable, this could be anything from a new dish being added to the company cantina to him finally scoring a date with that gruff magician he had been pining over for a long time. So Laurel smiled a little, smoothed out her frown and shrugged.</p><p>"I have no idea what you're talking about. I just got here."</p><p>"Oh, right, okay, ummm, we should wait for Felicity then, right, um, look, there she is!"</p><p>Clearly relieved that he didn't have to fumble any longer, Gary waved at Felicity, who was coming out of the elevator with a speed that was a little unlike her just for going to lunch and also with a big grin on her face. This was starting to look like something bigger than just Gary being excited about nothing.</p><p>Laurel braced herself for whatever it could be, hoping that her friends' good moods meant that it was a good thing. Felicity practically ran towards her and hugged her, much tighter than their usual hello, which only served to confuse Laurel more, but she hugged her back reflexively. Out of the corner of her eye she noted that Gary nodded at her and went back to his post when someone came in needing his assistance. </p><p>When Felicity stepped back a little, still grinning, Laurel decided to get to the bottom of this.</p><p>"Hey, Fee, what's going on? Not that I don't appreciate the hug, but you're acting weird and so is Gary."</p><p>"Not here. Let's go to my office." Okay, now Laurel was getting worried. Felicity seemed to notice it when they both started walking back to the elevators. "It's not a bad thing. Not at all. It's a good thing. A great thing. I'll tell you everything when we're alone."</p><p>Laurel nodded, content with that for now. Felicity had been the first to be honest with her about what was going on, telling her the same as the FBI had, the same that Behrad and the others told her later, that they knew what Sara was doing but that it was her choice to tell her sister and she hadn't made that choice before she left, so now they were bound by her decision. </p><p>She had accepted that, knowing that if she wanted to be a part of her sister's life again, she needed to respect her choices, but it had been hard, knowing that those around her knew what was going on but she was in the dark. She had gotten used to it over the last few months, but now it felt like she was about to explode just having to wait the few more minutes it took to get to Felicity's office. </p><p>Finally, they made it and sat down. When Felicity didn't immediately start talking, she raised her eyebrows at her.</p><p>"So, what's going on?"</p><p>Grinning again, Felicity took her hand, which made Laurel frown.</p><p>"They're back!"</p><p>Still confused, Laurel just shook her head slightly.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Sara and the others. They're back."</p><p>It was like an electrical current was rushing through Laurel, there was a humming in her ears and she felt like she couldn't breathe.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>This time, she asked it in a far quieter tone, breathless, with tears already forming in her eyes.</p><p>"They're back. All of them. They have some briefings and there's an issue of quarantine but they're going to be here any day now. Isn't that amazing?"</p><p>Clearly, she was waiting for some kind of reaction from Laurel, but she was still completely in shock and incapable of even forming a coherent though before the anxiety she usually was good at keeping at bay made its way through. What if Sara didn't want to talk to her? What if that message had just been her being lonely and far away from home? What if she was fine with just living her life as she had done before all this, without Laurel in it at all?</p><p>Trying to breathe evenly and to say something, anything, seeing that Felicity was already starting to worry about her, she smiled a little, even though she was sure it came out lopsided.</p><p>"Yes. Amazing. That's… great, it's great."</p><p>"Hey, it's okay, I'm sure Sara's first thought when she has the chance will be calling you."</p><p>At that, Laurel scoffed, though it came out a bit more wet than she wanted it to.</p><p>"You don't know that."</p><p>"Come on, I saw the message. And I'll tell her all about how hard you tried to find her, how you-"</p><p>"No!" Felicity startled at the force with which Laurel interrupted her and she smiled at her apologetically. "No, I… I don't want her to feel pressured into talking to me, letting me back into her life. She's safe and alive and here, that's all that matters."</p><p>It wasn't true, no matter how much Laurel tried to convince herself that it was and she knew Felicity knew it too. But as much as she would love having Sara in her life again, it was her choice. And whatever she decided, Laurel would be okay with it. </p><p>Eventually.</p><p>Felicity looked at her with something far too close to compassion for Laurel's liking and patted her arm.</p><p>"Of course it is, but she wants to see you, I'm sure of it. You'll see, she's gonna come barging in here in the next five minutes or so."</p><p>That made Laurel laugh.</p><p>"I hope so, I really do. But she probably has a lot of other things on her mind right now."</p><p>-----</p><p>"A burger. That's what I need right now. A nice big burger with fries and a milkshake. Who's with me?"</p><p>They had just left their last briefing, finally free to truly enjoy being home. Only Zari, Charlie, Ava and Sara were left in the corridor, all kind of standing around and not so sure what to do now. The others from the team had left earlier already, not needed in these last few meetings to wrap everything up and Nora and Mona had excused themselves immediately after leaving the room to visit Mona's parents – it felt more like Mona wanted to get it over with than that she was truly eager to get there, but Sara wasn't one to judge – Nora coming with her as a buffer and possible reason to leave if the visit went badly. </p><p>The conversation had gone towards what they wanted right now and instead of saying what was on the forefront of her mind for a week now, ever since they came back to Earth, Sara was trying to play it cool. It wasn't like she didn't want a burger, so it was fine.</p><p>Except that Zari looked at her like she knew exactly what she wasn't saying and she was aware that if Ava hadn't gotten a text at that very moment she probably would have too. Zari raised her eyebrows at her and then shook her head a little.</p><p>"Sorry, I'm out, I really want to go see Behrad and my parents."</p><p>Sara nodded. Obviously, she knew that.</p><p>"Of course. Ava?"</p><p>Ava looked at her with regret in her eyes and shook her head a little, shrugging.</p><p>"Yeah, apparently I need to go back in, they have some follow up questions, whatever that means."</p><p>Sara grinned.</p><p>"The woes of being the boss, huh?"</p><p>Ava rolled her eyes but smiled.</p><p>"Rain check on that burger though, it sounds amazing."</p><p>"Sure."</p><p>There was some unexpected awkwardness as Ava went back into the room, leaving the three of them alone. Charlie broke it by throwing her arm over Sara's shoulders and grinning at her.</p><p>"Looks like it's just you and me. Lead the way, Cap, I always got time for a free burger."</p><p>Sara laughed. </p><p>"Of course you do."</p><p>Charlie and Sara said their goodbyes to Zari. When she hugged Sara, she clearly had something to say, as she leaned close and spoke in a low voice right next to her ear.</p><p>"You know, you can just call her. I know you're thinking about it. Just, do it."</p><p>Letting go, Sara sighed. </p><p>"I'll see, okay?"</p><p>Smiling encouragingly, Zari nodded.</p><p>"Okay." She added louder, clearly for both her and Charlie. "Have fun!"</p><p>Charlie grinned. </p><p>"Oh, we will."</p><p>They had eaten their way through three portions of burgers and fries, Sara realizing how much she had missed this. Not that the food in Atlantis was bad, but nothing beat a great burger. Now they were sitting in some bar Charlie had insisted on going to, with live music that was just about a volume that was acceptable if you still wanted to talk and admittedly good drinks. </p><p>It was a great night out. Except the longer they sat here, the more Sara thought about what Zari had said. About just calling Laurel, getting it over with. She could, right? If she didn't want to talk to her, at least then she had her answer, she would know what was what. But she just couldn't make herself dial the number that she had found on the internet the day they came back, no matter how long she stared at her phone. </p><p>She hadn't even noticed how long she had been sitting here like in a trance when Charlie elbowed her in the ribs, tilting her head to the side, looking at her knowingly.</p><p>"Zari's right you know. Just call her."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Look, I have good hearing. And you're not exactly subtle. I'm sure Laurel would love hearing from you, no matter how long you haven't seen her."</p><p>"How did you…?"</p><p>"When you talk about your sister, it's always childhood stories. So, you haven't seen her in a long time, big deal. You just came back from another planet. You wanna talk to her, talk to her. That's it."</p><p>Sara was speechless. And here she was, thinking she had been stealthy, barely ever mentioning her sister. Apparently it had been enough. She tried to brush it off with a laugh, sounding awkward even to her own ears.</p><p>"Look who's talking." Charlie raised her eyebrows and Sara knew instantly that that had been uncalled for and unnecessarily mean. She started backtracking immediately. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"</p><p>"It's okay, I'll let it slide because you're clearly not thinking straight. But you know what, if my sisters were coming to me right now, telling me they are sorry for what they did to me and to others, I would be happy. I would not forgive them, because what they did was unforgivable but I would sent them on their way, hoping they'd start new lives without hurting people. So, there you go. Whatever you did, whatever she did, you both deserve a chance to at least talk about it, if both of you are ready for that."</p><p>Sara looked at Charlie with wide eyes, some treacherous tears forming behind them. She always had known that beneath all that bravado and carefree act Charlie was one of the wisest and kindest people she knew, but letting Sara see that side even after that low blow was something she recognized as special. She nodded.</p><p>"Thank you. I'm sorry I brought it up, I know how hard this is for you still."</p><p>"Hey, it's okay. And at least your sister is not an evil goddess bent on controlling the galaxy", she hesitated for a beat, looking at Sara coyly, "as far as I know at least." Sara laughed, "So, there probably is a good chance that you can actually make up, no matter what happened in the past, right?"</p><p>Sara smiled a little, contemplating.</p><p>"Yeah, I guess."</p><p>"See? Now, I'll go convince whoever's in charge here that it should be open mic night tonight and you do what you gotta do. I got your back, whatever you decide."</p><p>Sara nodded and Charlie grinned at her one last time encouragingly before walking towards the stage. After a moment, Sara called her back.</p><p>"Hey, Charlie."</p><p>She turned around, frowning a little.</p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p>"Thanks. I mean it."</p><p>Charlie grinned.</p><p>"Sure, mate. Any time."</p><p>Smiling to herself a little, part of her still wondering how she deserved friends like that, Sara took a moment to compose herself and then sighed and got up to find a quieter place from which to call Laurel. She went out the door, breathing in the night air and before she could lose her courage, she dialed the number, only realizing the second she had dialed it that she had no idea what time it was and that it could be the middle of the night for all she knew.</p><p>"Shit."</p><p>She had no idea what to do, it was already ringing and hanging up now would be worse than calling in the first place, so she decided to stick it out but looked at her watch, relieved that it wasn't that late, just after eleven, which, doing some quick math, meant eight in Star City if Sara remembered correctly, so still early evening.</p><p>It took Laurel only three rings to pick up.</p><p>"Hello?" Gulping, Sara tried to find words but it seemed like suddenly her throat was dry and the only thing she could do was stand there with her phone in her hand, stunned by simply hearing her sister's voice for the first time in over thirteen years. "Hello, who is it?" She knew she had to say something, anything, because Laurel would surely hang up soon, but it was just not possible. She heard Laurel shift on the other side of the line. "If this is some pervert, I'm an ADA and you're gonna be in a lot of trouble, you hear me?" Sara couldn't help but laugh at that. Good to know that Laurel was still the same even after all those years. She tried to suppress her laugh but Laurel had heard her already, because she gasped. "Sara? Sara, please tell me that's you."</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Sara finally found her ability to speak again.</p><p>"Yeah. Yeah, it's me."</p><p>"Where are you? I'll come there, right now, just wait for me, okay? Just wait for me."</p><p>Sara couldn't help but laugh again as she heard Laurel shuffle around, tears forming in her eyes. Laurel wasn't mad at her for staying away so long and she wanted to see her. Right now. That thought got Sara's brain back in gear.</p><p>"Laurel, wait, I'm not in Star City, I'm in Washington DC. I'll fly back tomorrow, we can meet then, okay?"</p><p>The shuffling stopped.</p><p>"If you'd prefer that, of course, but I am in Washington too. We can meet right now." There was a pause and Laurel sounded unsure. "If you want that, I mean."</p><p>Sara couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice after hearing that.</p><p>"You're in Washington?"</p><p>"Yeah. I… I will tell you everything, but I'd really like to do that in person."</p><p>"Yes, of course, I'm at a bar, wait, I'll give you the address."</p><p>"Okay." After giving her the address, Laurel told her she'd be there in twenty minutes. And then there was an awkward silence that Laurel broke, clearing her throat. "Okay, I'm on my way."</p><p>"Yeah, see you."</p><p>Every fiber of her being craved telling her sister that she loved her but she didn't know how to, so she just hanged up. There would be time for that later. They had all the time in the world now. Or, well, the two weeks until was going back to Atlantis. Which at least was something.</p><p>-----</p><p>For a long moment, Laurel couldn't do anything, she just stood there with the phone in her shaking hand, while her brain worked overtime to process all of this.</p><p>Sara had called her. She wanted to meet her. Right now. She was really, truly going to see her sister again. All of the hope she had for a week now, all of the doubt and anxiety, it all had brought her to this moment and she felt like her entire body had no idea what to do right now.</p><p>Unable to stop herself from thinking, she remembered how she had called Behrad and everyone else after Felicity had told her Sara and her team were back. None of them had heard from their relatives, but they weren't worried, like Felicity they told her that quarantine and briefings could take a long time. </p><p>Nevertheless, Laurel had managed to find out eventually that the most likely place for those briefings to occur was Washington. And while she knew it wasn't very logical to go there only to quite likely miss Sara because when (a small part of Laurel had still whispered 'if') she wanted to see her, she would come to Star City instead of staying in Washington. </p><p>At least, that was what the others told her, since they all knew that she was the ADA of Star City and Sara knew that too, so there was no reason for her to contact Laurel from Washington to meet up if she knew she was on the other side of the country. But just being in the same city with her sister had been something Laurel was unable to resist and she also was happy to meet up with Behrad and his family, sharing some of her anticipation and happiness with them.</p><p>And also having someone to listen to her anxieties and fears. Which was something she very much needed. Not that Felicity wasn't a good listener, but talking to someone whose sister also was in the same situation was at this point more helpful to Laurel. Even when Behrad and his sister actually got along well and he didn't have anything to worry about in terms of her contacting her family at the earliest possible moment.</p><p>But that was helpful too, because it gave Laurel a clear timeline. Behrad had promised that he would tell her when Zari contacted them and then she was ready to give it a few more days before admitting defeat and going back to Star City. </p><p>Not that it helped right now to dwell on any of that, because as it turned out, Sara had contacted her, only a few hours after Behrad had sent her a text saying that Zari had come home. </p><p>Those hours had been the worst, she had spent them alternatively staring at her phone and trying to distract herself with watching TV or doing some research for an upcoming case, not that that actually was going particularly well. She hadn't been able to concentrate on anything. </p><p>A little before eleven, she forced herself to go to bed, not wanting to be tired in the morning, still hoping that Sara would call her then and wanting to be awake and ready for it. When the phone rang with an unknown number just after she had gotten ready for bed, she couldn't stop her hopes from skyrocketing. </p><p>When the caller didn't answer, her hopes plummeted again and she got unreasonably angry at whoever it was who was calling her, reacting more harshly than she would normally. But then the rollercoaster of emotions continued as she recognized the laughter on the other end of the line and couldn't stifle a gasp, her entire body flooding with adrenaline.</p><p>This was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for these last six months and even all those years before. She couldn't stop her excitement from taking over, immediately blurting out how much she wanted to see Sara, how much she needed to have the certainty of her really being there, staying there long enough for her to be able to meet her.</p><p>"Where are you? I'll come there, right now, just wait for me, okay? Just wait there."</p><p>Only when Sara let out an awkward laugh did Laurel realize that she was probably pushing too hard, taking for granted that Sara actually wanted to see her right now. But she didn't have time to worry about that, since Sara immediately said that she wasn't in Star City but in Washington which led to another awkward moment of Laurel saying that she was there too, finally also realizing she hadn't really asked Sara if she actually wanted to meet up, so adding that question too. </p><p>She didn't want to explain why she was in Washington over the phone and thankfully Sara let it go after she said she would rather explain in person, just giving her the address of where she was right now and saying see you. </p><p>Laurel was too distracted to notice that there might have been a space for a different goodbye, for an 'I love you' that had been on the tip of her tongue for all these years but for which it was far too soon. Instead of dwelling on it when she did realize that she had missed that moment, she quickly got dressed again and called a cab to get to that bar, to Sara. </p><p>Only when she was standing outside the door did she hesitate again. Stepping inside would mean facing the biggest mistake she had made in her life. For all these months she had imagined this moment so many times but now that it was here, she was drawing a complete blank as to what to do.</p><p>For a moment, she closed her eyes, trying to calm the onslaught of anxiety. She took a deep breath, slowly letting it out, squared her shoulders and stepped inside of the bar. She could do this. It was what she had wanted for years. </p><p>Inside, she scanned the still quite crowded room and only after walking a bit further into the bar spotted her sister sitting at one of the tables, alone, a half full glass standing in front of her. It felt like her heart might beat out of her chest at seeing Sara, relaxed and clearly happy, even though the small frown she sported betrayed her own anxiousness about this meeting. </p><p>Laurel had no idea how long she just stood there, taking in her sister, but it was probably just a few seconds. Then she took another deep breath and stepped forward to finally meet Sara again, to get to know her baby sister anew and to find out what she had been up to this last year, provided she was willing to tell her.</p><p>When Sara noticed her, a big smile formed on her face but the frown didn't disappear. She got up abruptly and stepped closer towards Laurel, clearly acting on a reflex to hug her but stopped herself at the last second. It broke Laurel's heart a little to see her that insecure and to know she was the reason for that. </p><p>Standing there awkwardly, she realized she needed to come clean, right now, no matter where they were or if the time was right. She had wasted so many years already.</p><p>"Sara, I'm so sorry. I never meant what I said, I never wanted you dead, never, I just… I was so angry and hurt and I took it out on you and I should never have done that." Tears were starting to stream down her face but she ignored them. "You have every right to hate me, but I promise, if you give me the chance, I will do everything I can to make up for it. To be your sister again."</p><p>Sara had listened, much more stoically than Laurel had expected, a sign that she truly had changed, that she wasn't the impulsive teen anymore who had carried every single emotion on her face. But there were tears in her eyes now too and when Laurel stopped, Sara only hesitated a second and then crossed the small distance between them, enveloping Laurel in a tight hug. </p><p>Now full on crying, Laurel hugged back. </p><p>There was so much they still had to talk about, so much that needed to be said, so many secrets still that needed to be brought to light but for right now, this was everything Laurel had ever wanted. </p><p>To finally be in her sister's arms again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ETA: Since I now added more to this series I changed some things in this fic because the timeline didn't add up, specifically Sara's timeline of working for the Bureau and Legends, which I've now established had only been two weeks before she had left for Atlantis (meaning Felicity and Behrad only know her through hearsay and very shortly in person). So, yeah, there are a few changes here, making it more congruent with the rest of the series.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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